The method has been employed for the company’s latest Personal Care Innovation 2010 report, and employs a new system of questioning that is claimed to take the guess work and ambiguity out of conventional methods, such as multiple choice response surveys.
“The results and consumer insights found through the research are of the most uninfluenced nature,” said Carrie Mellage, director of Klline’s consumer products practice division.
Mellage went on to explain that what is crucial about the new method is that the respondents give an initial response, then go on to interpret that response in the second part of the questionnaire, thus enhancing and verifying the information provided.
Kline says that the new methodology it employed for the report is based on complexity and cognitive sciences, together with cultural anthropology, which is combined to illicit more comprehensive survey responses.
For the latest personal care innovation report, the survey obtained responses concerning six different categories – fragrance, hair care, make-up, oral care, skin care, facial treatments and other toiletries - the final category encompassing products such as deodorants and shaving products.
And, although the initial report is focused on the US market, Kline says that the results of this report will lead to similar reports for both the European and Asian markets being published later on this year.
'Triad' method
“One of the fundamental differences to the methodology we used is in the types of questions,” explained Mellage.
She went on to explain that the ‘triad’ method of questioning employed in the report has been developed and fine tuned over a period of about 10 years, allowing for an analysis that is a lot closer to reality that standard methods.
“Another compelling component of the research design is providing respondents an opportunity to share stories of their own insights – positive and negative experiences with products and also their own ideas for products they’d like to see from manufacturers. The results are quantitative, supported by qualitative material,” said Mellage.
For the report Kline interviewed a selection of panel members, using quotas that match the US ethnic population distribution, while aiming for a 75/25 female to male split that reflects consumption levels for personal care products for the respective sexes.
More information on the latest Consumer Insights report on personal care innovation in the US is available by directly contacting the Kline Group.